WWALS Watershed Coalition advocates for conservation and stewardship of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

This Tuesday, Bradford County Commissioners will schedule a public hearing
on the phosphate mine application by HPS II.
You can go speak or write them a letter.

If the creek don’t rise, I will be there with a video camera.
Meanwhile,
I have sent them a letter in PDF
and an updated copy of the
Resolution Against Phosphate Mines in Florida.
That Resolution only had five signatures when I last sent it to Bradford BOCC in May,
but now 11 of the 14 Waterkeepers of Florida have signed it,
and seven of us delivered it to FDEP Secretary Noah Valenstein at the end of July.

Acquiring lands in a springshed is one of the best ways to protect springs and rivers,
and a judge just said the Florida legislature can’t divert funds from that purpose of Florida Amendment 1, which was passed by 75% of the people of Florida.

On June 15, 2018, Florida Circuit Judge Charles Dodson ruled in
favor of environmental organizations that the land conservation
constitutional amendment overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2014
requires funding to be used for land acquisition, restoration and
management, not for other purposes.

Earthjustice, Joe Litte of Florida Defenders of the Environment and
the plaintiff organizations— Continue reading →

How much would it cost
to fund the Okapilco Creek gage so it won’t go offline July 31st?
About
$13,600/year, more or less, mostly for field and office labor
and administration, with only 10% for the field equipment.
Since this gage is located in Brooks County, Georgia,
the most likely funding body (after USGS itself)
would be the Brooks County Commission.
Yes, it’s in WWALS watersheds; no, WWALS doesn’t plan to take on
funding streamgages. If some funding organization appeared
that wanted to pass the funds through WWALS, which is a 501(c)(3)
educational institution, that would be possible.
But this seems more like a government issue.